haviour. A cooper bore the third rank among the emigrants; however, he did not enjoy this elevation because he possessed any personal or intellectual superiority, but merely in consequence of his broad humour, want of perception, and undisguised vulgarity of character. Several other males of the party distinguished themselves in various ways, among whom was an individual who had a smattering of navigation and astronomy, and who usually made his appearance upon deck about mid-day, with a quadrant in his hand. When ever he saw the Captain preparing to take an observation, he set about doing so likewise, and afterwards committed the results to paper, and remained absolved in the contemplation of them during some hours. He then strutted consequentially along the deck, and scarcely deigned to reply to his fellowpassengers, when they ventured to inquire in what latitude we were, or how many miles we had sailed within a certain space of time. The old woman and her daughter, who were named Burrel, took the lead among the females on board. Having resided in a small village, and been of some importance there, they seemed resolved to maintain the dignity they had once enjoyed, and to exact a proportionable degree of deference from their fellow-passengers. They usually sat near the companion, and entered into conversation with the captain and mate as often as opportunity offered. When they did address any other person, it was with an air of condescension and reserve, and they affected to despise, and undervalue all those things that astonished, amused, or interested, the other emigrants.

The gale of wind we had experienced formed a subject of conversation on board for several days, and almost every one expressed his opinion concerning it. "The hand of Providence alone preserved us from the deep," said an old man; " I warrant ye the best sailor in this ship never saw such weather before. I've been in the way of seeing Lloyd's list, and getting a notion of nautical affairs, but yesterday's tempest beats all I've yet read about.""We're no accustomed to such adventures," returned another of the emi grants, "and so we think more of hem. The Captain took little head of he weather-there was a greater stock of courage in his little finger than in VOL. X.

all us passengers put together.""Say nothing about the Captain!" cried a woman; his behaviour made my blood curdle cold,instead of saying his prayers, or thinking about the preservation of the Christian people on board his ship, he passed his time in turning round that bit wheel there," (pointing to the apparatus for moving the tiller.)" You speak without knowledge," returned Mrs Burrel, “if it was'nt for that wheel it would be impossible to manage the ship."-"Ay, ay," answered the first," I fancy the captain told you so; but I'm rather unfond of believing every thing I hear."

Keep your tongue in order," cried Mrs Burrel; " have you the impu dence to tell me that I speak an untruth? Well, well, I thank my stars the ship's no under your command.”. "If it was," replied her enraged opponent, "I would give you a hot birth.". "I daresay that," interrupted Mrs Burrel; " and I half deserve such already, for demeaning myself by ta king a place in the steerage-I'll be a cabin passenger the next voyage I make my rich friends will never for give me for disconveniencing myself in this fashion."

"

"We have at least one comfortable reflection," said Spiers, stepping forward, and raising his voice, none of us shewed the least want of courage during the hour of danger."-" There was a fine shew of pale faces, though,' observed M'Arthur.-" Yes, because we were all sea-sick." replied a young man." Sea-sick!" exclaimed Mrs Burrel; "I don't know what you mean. I wasn't sea-sick. I never was sea-sick in my life, and I've made voyages before this."-" I wish I could say as you do, mistress," observed the old man who had spoken first; "however ill I was at the heart, I noticed some things that made me doubt our Captain's skill. I never was on the sea before, indeed, but then I've read Lloyd's List. The wind was direct ahead, but still he kept up the sails. Now, what could be the purpose of that? just to drive us back to the place we came from. In my notion, he should have taken down all his canvass, and cast anchor."-" I have my doubts if he could have found bottom to do that," said a sedate-looking man, who had not hitherto spoken." It is astonishing what mistakes prevail about the depth of the sea. It has bottom.

3 M

everywhere," cried Spiers." Ay, ay, your right," returned M'Arthur; but the longest thread you ever wound off a pirn, wouldn't reach it where we are now."- "What are you all speaking about?" said Mrs Burrel; "we've been made acquainted with the depth of the water every two hours since we set sail. Haven't you seen the mate throw a cord with a bit wood at the end of it, over the ship's side, and let it run off a reel till it sinks to the bottom? He then draws it in and looks at it, and so finds out how much water we have below us. The last time he did this I asked what the depth was, and he said, eight miles."-"You are under an egregious mistake," cried the man with the quadrant ; "the instrument you mention is used for the purpose of ascertaining the rate of the ship's progress, and is denominated the log-line. It was invented about the year Oh," interrupted Mrs Burrel, "it's a fine thing to have a greater share of lear than one's neighbours, or maybe impudence. I suspect the mate's wiser than you, notwithstanding the whirligigs you carry about the deck."- -"My grandfather had great skill of the sea," said an old woman; " he used to tell me that it was fifty miles deep in some places, and had mountains of salt in the bottom."-" There's nae use of speaking here," exclaimed Mrs Burrel, angrily; "the less some folks know, the less they wish to learn."

dealt in a species of eloquence that was well suited to the peculiarity of the scene, and the novelty of his situation. Indeed, the objects around him could hardly fail to have an inspiring effect. On every side a silent and unruffled expanse of ocean stretched to the horizon, which was skirted by long ranges of pyramidal-shaped clouds. These floated, as it were, upon the verge of the sea, and received the full radiance of an unobscured and almost vertical sun, while their serene and unchanging masses had an aspect of mute attention that harmonized completely with the religious impressions produced by the sermon which our orator was then delivering. The ship sometimes rolled gently from side to side, and made the sails flap against the masts, but the noise of this did not at all overpower his voice, which was strong, impressive, and melodious. His audience, consisting of men, women, and children, sat or stood around in various groups; and several ardent hearers had climbed up the rigging, that they might have a full view of him. After some time he brought forward, and endeavoured to support, a doctrine so new and extravagant, that many of the emigrants began to express their disapprobation by significant looks and gestures. However, he paid no regard to their implied censures, but continued to defend his opinions with additional vehemence and fluency of language, till a slight heaving of the ship made him lose his equilibrium, and he fell down the main hatch, and was followed in his descent by the cask upon which he had stood. Its head unfortunately came out, and a large quantity of flour dropped upon the ill-fated preacher, and whitened every part of his body so completely, that his audience started back, and scarcely knew him when he appeared upon deck again. The Captain, who had sat near the companion during the whole sermon, immediately rose up, and swore he would throw him overboard if he did not pay for the flour he had been the means of destroying." Can ye expect good without evil, when human creatures are the agents?" said the preacher. "I am unable to pay for what is lost, but will gladly have it taken off my allowances during the voyage. This proposal was received with great applause by the emigrants, many of

whom, notwithstanding their aversion to the tenets he had inculcated, offered to share their provisions with him; however, the mate succeeded in appeasing the Captain, and all further altercation ceased.

After this was adjusted, those who had stationed themselves in the rigging began to descend to the deck, but on getting a certain way down the shrouds, they were astonished to find their farther progress impeded by three seamen who stood in a line, and occupied all the foot-ropes. On request ing permission to pass, they were informed that it would not be granted, unless they agreed to pay the forfeit of a bottle of rum, which it was usual to exact from each person when he went aloft the first time. They all declared they had no rum, but the seamen informed them that the Captain would sell as much as they chose. Being unwilling to part with their money, they were puzzled how to act, and began to exclaim against the justness of the demand that was made upon them; however, their fellow-passengers, instead of attending to these complaints, laughed at their embarrassment, and encouraged the sailors to persist in requiring the customary tribute. Those who had ignorantly exposed themselves to its exaction, would not consent to pay it, and remained on the shrouds, exposed to the jeers and taunts of the spectators below, for nearly half an hour. At length a breeze sprung up, the sea became agitated, and the ship began to roll; their terror was then so great, that they seemed willing to agree to any terms rather than be forced to remain aloft, and therefore promised the sailors all they wanted. They were then permitted to descend to the deck, which they soon reached, amidst the derisive scoffings of their fellow-passengers.

The place in which the seamen slept and took their meals, was close to the bows of the vessel, and on a level with the steerage, from which it was separated by a wooden partition. The hold lay under all, but neither the crew nor the emigrants had any access to it except through the main hatch. About a week after we left port, the former began to complain that they were often disturbed during the night by noises which they could not account for, as they took place in that part of the ship where the cargo was stowed, and where no person could possibly be. A sailor

asserted, that one dark morning, while at the helm, he had seen a white figure standing upon the bowsprit, and that he called to the people of the watch, who were lying about the deck half asleep, but before he could rouse them, the spectre had vanished. Another said, he sometimes heard voices whispering beneath him when he lay in his birth, but could neither tell what they uttered, nor from whom they proceeded, though he believed that the thing that made such noises was at least a fathom below the steerage floor.

The superstitious alarm produced among the seamen by these circumstances, was speedily communicated to the passengers, and the subject underwent so much discussion, that it soon reached the Captain's ears. He affected to treat the matter lightly, saying, there was no room for ghosts in a ship so crowded as ours, and at the same time remarked, that if the stories told by the sailors had any foundation, they were to be accounted for by supposing that some of the emigrants had been playing tricks upon their credulity. The mate, however, did not seem to be satisfied with this explanation, and he took me aside, and stated, that as a strange figure had been seen near the bows of the vessel the preceding night, he intended to watch for its reappearance, and hoped I would second his purpose.

About twelve o'clock we took our station near the companion; all the emigrants had retired to their births, and the helmsman and five of his comrades alone remained upon deck. The latter had laid themselves down apparently half asleep, and every thing was silent except the waves, which made noise enough to render our voices undistinguishable at the other end of the vessel. We therefore talked without fear of being overheard by the mysterious visitor whom we expected to see, and as our conversation turned chiefly upon sailors' superstitions, my companion related a story in illustration of the subject. "After making three voyages to the West Indies," said he, "in the capacity of a common seamau, I was discharged, the vessel having changed its owners. I could find no employment for some time, but at last got myself appointed to take charge of a large ship that had been laid up and dismantled during several years. My duty consisted in washing

her decks, keeping her clean, and repairing any thing that went wrong about her works. She lay in a retired part of the harbour, and far from the rest of the shipping, and no one lived on board of her but myself. For the first few days, things went quietly enough, though I must confess I felt rather lonesome at night, particularly when the weather was bad, and often wished that some of the boats which I heard passing and repassing at a distance, would come alongside and leave me a companion. One morning, when in the hold, I observed an old rudder wheel lying among some rubbish. I took it up, and was shocked and astonished to find the skeleton of a man's arm, as far as the shoulder, bound to it with a rope. The flesh had completely decayed, but the sinews and bones remained entire, and the hand still grasped one of the spokes of the wheel, as if in the act of steering. A cold shivering came over me, and I threw the whole into a dark corner, and went about my usual occupations; however, my mind felt unsettled and uneasy, and I was continually thinking of the human remains I had seen, and wondering how they could have come there. The night that succeeded all this was a very tempestuous one, and the ship being crank and indifferently moored, laboured dreadfully. I lay down in my birth soon after dark, but the more I tried to sleep, the less did I feel inclined to do so; the wind made a wild and dreary sound among the old shrouds and dismantled masts, that was far more terrifying than its fiercer roarings round a ship in full trim would have been. At length I got tired of lying awake, and went upon deck to see how the weather looked. The moon was in the top of the heavens, but gave almost no light, in consequence of the immense layers of broken black clouds that sweptalong before her; however, they sometimes opened for a few moments, and then she suddenly blazed forth like a flash of lightning, and shewed every object around. The second time this happened I thought I saw a man standing at the helm; I shouted with terror, but no one replied, and I began to suspect that fancy had deceived me ; how ever, on looking again, I was convinced of the reality of the appearance. He was dressed like a sailor, and stood close to the wheel, having his hands

upon the spokes, and remained mo tionless, notwithstanding the violent and sudden labourings of the vessel. He had a pale and dejected countenance, and kept his eyes fixed upon the topmasts, like a careful and experienced steersman; and though I called out several times, he neither changed his position nor appeared to notice me. I took my station within a few yards of him, not daring to approach any nearer, and became, as it were, entranced by fear and curiosity. I gradually thought we were in the middle of a wide ocean, and scudding along before a gale of wind so tremendous, that the dismantled masts rung under its violence. The most terrible seas seemed to swell and burst around us, but the mysterious helmsman brought the ship safely through them all; and when I looked astern, I saw every thing bright, sunny, and tranquil, though black clouds, lightnings, and a hurricane frowned, flashed, and raged before us. On regaining my recollection, I found myself standing in the very place where I had first lost it, but the spectre had vanished, and no trace of him remained.

"I spent the next day in dreary expectation of again encountering my supernatural visitor; however, I was agreeably disappointed, and a week passed away without my having once seen him, though I regularly watched for his appearance. At length a gale of wind again occurred, and when midnight arrived, I observed him take his station at the helm in the same way as before, though I could not discover from whence he came, or how he got on board. I soon had a vision similar to the one already described, and on awaking from it, found myself alone. All this took place every night while the storm lasted. You may be sure I rejoiced in the return of fine weather, and subsequently dreaded a wild horizon as much as if I had been at sea.

"After this, the fear of the apparition made me so miserable, that I resolved to look out for another birth. One morning, while full of such thoughts, I saw a boat coming towards the ship, and soon recognized my old friend, Bill Waters, tugging an oar, in company with several other seamen. They soon got alongside, and asked how I did, and were just pushing off again, when I requested Bill to come on board, and spend the day with me,